The Ready Writer 5
The Greater Gift
By George J. Matranga
When the heart of the worshipper is consecrated to the Lord then his gift will be sanctified for the use of the Lord.
“Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?” Matt. 23:19
Many people try to cover up their lack of anointing with displays of personal talents. Although it may appear to be so, this message is not just for musicians and artists…it is for all of us. The scripture says in Psalms 87:7, “Both the singers and the players on instruments say, All my springs are in you.” In Hebrew the word “springs” means source of satisfaction. Our relationship with Jesus Christ is the source of satisfaction that we express through our gifts and callings. Many Christian ministers seek satisfaction from the use of their gifts instead of from the One who has given them their gifts. Christ has given us gifts for the use of His purposes. “But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Eph. 4:7 We have received these gifts from the Father of Lights to bring glory and honor to Him, not to ourselves. In whatever area we are gifted: preaching, singing, dancing or answering phones, it is for Him and Him alone. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights…” James 1:17 “And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the Lord, which King David had made to praise the Lord…” II Chron. 7:6 The Lord denounces the use of His gifts for self-seeking ambitions.
“Woe to you…who chant to the sound of stringed instruments, and invent for yourselves musical instruments like David…” Amos 6:3,5 Although the use of our gifts brings great satisfaction, the gift giver Himself must be our greatest satisfaction. We are “living” instruments able to minister one to another through our life in Jesus Christ. “…You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another… that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” I Pet. 2:5; 4:10-11 To be in perfect pitch, we tune our natural instruments by source of a tuning device, not by another instrument. Only the Master Tuner can tune our hearts to be in perfect pitch with The Source, our Father in Heaven. Anything else would be use of our God-given talents for self-serving agendas. Unfortunately, many Christian artists do not use their talents righteously. God’s true anointing only flows through us when we are focused on our relationship in Him and not on what we do for Him.
Before I was saved, I was a professional entertainer. Music consumed my whole life. I sacrificed everything for music, including my family. I was determined that nothing would stand in my way of fame and success. I even joined the Air Force Reserve to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War which posed to interfere with my career. And though a rising star, I fell hard. Similarly, Satan, another star, heaven’s worship leader, did too! “Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments…How you are fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer (marginal-day star), Son of the morning!” Is. 14:11,12 Lucifer, a master musician, lost his position in heaven when he took his God-given talents and sought to pursue the position of the giver. “For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…I will be like the Most High.” Is. 14:13,14 Every believer is gifted with a talent; we must guard our hearts against pride. The identity that comes with extraordinary talent “puffs up” the flesh. Lucifer’s great talent brought him so much glory it went to his head – it was his downfall. “…Because your heart is lifted up, and you say, ‘I am a god,’…you were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty…your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground…” Ezk. 28:2,12,17 It is evident why so many talented musical stars live such empty lives and die such miserable deaths! Apart from God, we become entangled in our own gifts. Our greatest strengths easily become our weaknesses when not submitted to God. And Satan will certainly attempt to weaken any believer by preying on his weaknesses and appealing to his senses. “How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!” Is. 14:12 Satan yearns to rob God of His glory by tempting Christians in the same three ways he tempted Jesus.
“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit…being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, ‘If you are the son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ But Jesus answered him, saying, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'” Luke 4:1-4 In the moment of Jesus’ physical hunger, the devil appealed to Him to relinquish His dependency upon God. In like manner, he tells the Christian: “Take over from here, you have the power!” He tries to delude the believer into mastering his own situation instead of waiting upon God. Jesus didn’t buy it. He would not compromise. He was weak in the flesh but strong in the spirit of His Father. Paul writes in II Cor. 3:5, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” The devil tempts artists to rely on self-mastery and self-confidence. The flesh loves the strength and power that comes with the identity of talent. Satan’s aim was to challenge Jesus to use His strength and power as the Son of God apart from the will of God in order to feed His flesh. Satan also challenges the Christian artist to use his strength or talent as a child of God to feed his fleshly desires. Although Jesus was the Son of God, His identity was in His Father, not in His own strength. He could not be coaxed into using His power for Himself. He was totally dependent on His Father and fed upon Him. “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so He who feeds on Me will live because of Me.” John 6:57 Most assuredly, the strengths in the power of our gifts and talents will become our weakness when used for ourselves.
The devil also tempts the believer into using God’s gifts for personal gain. “Then the devil, taking Him upon a high mountain, showed Him all the Kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give you, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'” Luke 4:6-8 Immediately, Jesus recognized the devil’s clever tactic: to have all of creation without the Creator. Armed with the Word, our Lord set the record straight. Likewise, Satan tempts the Christian: the kingdom, without the King, which signifies self-worship.
A child of God would not outwardly “worship” the devil. Yet, we bow the knee to Satan, as believers, when we succumb to building our lives and ministries according to his principles of personal success, ambition, and individual gain – self-worship. Like the world system, the Christian music business functions primarily on performance and achievements. This is why the industry is laced with lawsuits, divorces, competition and even suicide. They that do business in the name of Christ, yet operate upon the principles of the world lie against the truth! “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” James 3: 14, l6 NIV Singing about the glory of God and bringing glory to God are two different things. “…For with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.” Ezk 33:31 An artist can accomplish great things and still have a heart of hell! “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not…done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” Matt. 7:22-23 We are known by our fruits not by our gifts! “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Matt. 7:20
Since Satan failed in his attempt to get Jesus to compromise through the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, he attempted to destroy Him by the pride of life. “Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written; He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you, and, in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ “And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘It has been said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'” Luke 4:9-12 Satan tried to destroy Jesus using the closest thing to Him. Twice, Jesus defeats him with the Word. Cunningly, in his attempt to counter Jesus, Satan attacks Him using the Word, but he misrepresents the scripture. The setting is Jerusalem at the temple. Jerusalem is the city of God and the temple is where God’s glory dwells (Ps. 46:4). Initially, the scheme was to use the power of God, apart from God. Now it is to place God in a position to act outside of His will…using His Word as leverage! Again our Lord defeats him with nothing but the truth! Satan’s goal has never changed. It is the same today with the Christian minister. Whether a high-tech artist or housewife, we are the apple of God’s eye, and the place where His glory dwells. And the devil seeks to destroy our lives. He longs for us to feel invincible in our lives and ministries. He tries to convince us, using God’s word, that we are in a secure position. That is why we must have a humble posture no matter what level of position the Lord places us. There was nothing unclean in Jesus’ heart for the devil to target. “…For the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” John 14:30 If an artist is given to fleshly appetites of self glory then he’ll bite into the apple of the devil’s lies. “And put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.” Proverbs 23:3 The devil fell from his secure position by pride and will most assuredly tempt us to do the same. We are given to half-truths when we listen with half-hearted ears! A pure heart hears a pure word. Many doctrines have been built on half-truths and the ministries have come crashing down. The enemy will test our response to success. He knows the scripture because he has lived it. “Pride goes before destruction…” Pr. 16:18 God will not be manipulated into a position to act outside His will. Using scripture, Satan will accommodate a self-seeker whose heart is set on making it to the top. Satan also struggled to get Jesus in a position to eliminate His fear of God. Jesus said, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen…” Rev. 2:5 He did not say test the heights! A minister or artist who seeks his ministry first, instead of Christ, is in danger of self-exaltation. A ministry built on twisted versions of scripture and justified as if of the Lord will surely fail. Peter says in his second epistle, “He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.” II Pet. 3:16-17 NIV Using scripture out of context to fit one’s fancy will not secure a gain in position, but will ensure a loss of position. Therefore, the pinnacle of success in the Kingdom is not how far we rise to the top but in how close we stay to the bottom. “For he who is least among you all will be great.” Luke 9:48 “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Matt. 23:11-12
Early in the ministry, God gave me a prophetic revelation for the time in which we live: a revelation of God’s word concerning the condition of His church. Jesus said in Matt. 23:19, “Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?” Our Lord characterized the religious Pharisees as fools and blind. They were deceived into thinking that they were representing God as His messengers while their outward activities proved otherwise. “Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say and do not do.” Matt. 23:3 The Pharisees placed the gift above the Giver, talent above anointing, performance above ministry, and appearance above character. That is exactly what is happening in the church today! It is the last hour and many singing for Jesus today will only find themselves weeping later, unless they repent. Though I am writing this message, it took years in the school of Christ, at the cross of the altar of God, to develop this messenger. We can have a right Word and a wrong heart. That will be the deception in these last days because the hearers will probe no further than what their ears hear! Anything deeper would bring personal conviction requiring the individual to change his lifestyle through repentance. “…Because they do not change, therefore they do not fear God. ” Ps. 55:19 Many today are following false prophets who appear to have the right word or talent but have impure motives that have not been crucified at the altar. “For many will come in My name, saying ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” Matt. 24:5 We need not be deceived by those who use their gifts to bring glory to themselves instead of their gifts being used by the Lord to bring glory to Him. Our talents and gifts can look good in themselves but God sees the heart. His loving altar has been provided to consume the gift holder in order to purify the gift. Fire always consumes the sacrifice. “A perpetual fire shall burn on the altar; it shall never go out.” Lev. 6:13 Thus, the altar that sanctifies the gift is greater than the gift! The glory is in what He does in us rather than what He does through us. In the world, through much trial and error, I became a seasoned professional. In the kingdom, through much tribulation, I desire to become a seasoned servant. “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.” Mark 9:49 Hence, when the heart of the artist is consecrated to the Lord then his gift will be sanctified for the use of the Lord.
In this last hour we need to make sure the motives of our hearts are in tune with our Source. As Christian artists and ministers, are we conforming to the current standards of the world or are we raising the standard of His righteousness? Will we compromise Christ’s standards for record deals, airplay, or positions that advances our careers? No matter how many great things we do for the Lord it will never compensate for a lack of personal holiness, integrity, and character. The church should hold artists accountable – no more concert tours until the house is in order! We have lowered our standard of holiness when it comes to our musicians by placing them in holy positions of worship without them being proven first. Having an artistic talent or charismatic gift is not the criteria for a position in God’s kingdom, it is character of the heart. Proven character first, artistic talent second. Today it’s vice versa! It’s carnal to accept one on the basis of his talent and proven success instead of character and proven fruit. “For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. But you know his proven character…” Phil. 2:21-22 The Spirit of the Lord is calling out to His own, a holy calling exceeding any material or artistic gift…a call to pure holiness and commitment. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Rev. 2:29
Re-edition, original word 1995